Quick Tips For Beating Afternoon Slumps

Courtesy of LifeWorks: Almost everyone has a time of day when it's hard to concentrate. For many people, that time of day is the afternoon. You may start to feel tired or grouchy or find that you're craving caffeine or sugar. If your workday is affected by an afternoon slump, there are steps you can take to boost your energy and make the last part of the day more pleasant and productive. Eat a healthy breakfast and lunch, and choose healthy snacks. Start the day with a healthy breakfast. It's one of the best ways to avoid an afternoon slump. Always make time for a healthy lunch. Skipping lunch can be another significant cause of afternoon energy slumps. Avoid overly large or heavy meals that contain too much sugar or other fast-burning carbohydrates. Also avoid foods high in saturated or trans fats. Eat healthy snacks when your energy is lagging. Instead of reaching for chips, ice cream, or a candy bar, choose healthier snacks, such as fruit, yogurt, cheese and whole-grain crackers, and unsalted nuts. Balanced snacks allow your blood-sugar levels to stay more stable and help you avoid a drop in energy. Take short breaks to maintain your energy. If you can, get up and leave your work area for five minutes when you feel an afternoon slump coming on. Go for a walk or get a drink of water. Stretch your muscles a little and give your eyes -- and your brain -- a short rest. Stretching allows your muscles to limber up and can help you relax and improve your concentration for the rest of the day. Try to build in some exercise at lunchtime, too. Focus. When faced with an afternoon slump, many people lose their focus and fall into an even deeper slump. You may work halfheartedly at a task or start and stop several tasks. Take a few minutes to look at your to-do list. If you don't have a prioritized to-do list, make one. Then figure out which tasks you can realistically get done by the end of the day and focus on those. Pay attention to the times when you have less energy. Once you realize what time of day you tend to feel the slump, you can plan around it. For example, if you know that you tend to feel very tired at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, make sure that you work on a challenging project in the morning. Schedule meetings or tasks for the time of day when you feel most alert. Get a good night's sleep. Most adults need seven to nine hours of sleep to feel rested and energetic, according to the National Sleep Foundation. But most people don't sleep anywhere near eight hours a night. When you don't get enough sleep, you may just run out of energy by the afternoon. This can make it hard to concentrate and it can even cause you to make mistakes on the job. Make getting a good night's sleep a priority, and you may be surprised by how much better you feel in the afternoon and all day long. Learn techniques to manage stress. A slump can also occur because you're under stress and feel burned out after hours of intense work. If this is the case, practice relaxation techniques to manage feelings of stress and overload. You might also talk with your manager about ways to ease your workload. If you pay attention to when your slumps tend to occur and take steps to feel more energetic at those times, you may be able to make the middle or end of your workday as productive as the beginning.